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So why might you need single trip insurance? Well, travel insurance is an essential thing to have if things go wrong when you’re far from home. Even in the best hotels accidents and incidents can happen.

Single trip cover is just what it sounds like – an insurance policy for one holiday. If you go away twice or more every year, it could work out cheaper to buy annual travel insurance. But if your main holiday is just once a year, single trip will probably be better value.

What does travel insurance cover?

The main idea behind travel or holiday insurance is to cover you for cost of medical treatment abroad – which could go into thousands of pounds. It could also pay for you to be transported home in an emergency.

Policies do vary depending on the provider, but they usually cover emergency medical treatment costs, like hospital charges and ambulance fees. If you can’t use your original ticket because of an illness or injury, you’re usually covered to get home after your treatment. A friend or relative could staying with you while you’re treated, with costs covered by the insurance, or fly out from home to support.

So how much will it cost you to buy single trip travel insurance? It actually depends on a few things, so the best way to find out what would work best for you is to do a travel insurance comparison.

Where are you going?

When you compare travel insurance you first need to tell the provider where you’re off to. You can buy a policy for the UK, or for Europe, or the USA, Canada and Caribbean. You’ll need extra cover if you’re going to the USA, Canada and Caribbean, and if you’re going further beyond you’ll need to check that country is covered.

Your travel insurance won’t cover you if you are travelling to a country that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) doesn’t consider to be safe. If you’re not sure, check the FCO website.

Some people think that they don’t need travel insurance if they have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). In many European countries, if you need medical treatment and have an EHIC, you can get treatment on the same basis as people who live in that country. However, it will be on the basis you get taken to a public not private hospital. In the event of an emergency you will be taken to the nearest hospital. Also some policies will waive your excess if you have one.

But the EHIC should never be used as a replacement for travel cover – it wouldn’t pay for getting you home or any other costs linked to your medical emergency. They are also date-specific, so check the expiry on your card before you travel. Be aware too, that not all European countries recognise the EHIC.

Who’s going?

Your single trip travel insurance could just be for you as an individual policy, or you could buy insurance as a couple, a family or a group. If you’re including other people, you’ll need their dates of birth and details of any medical conditions they might have, to get an accurate quote.

What’s on the itinerary?

If you’re going skiing or snowboarding, taking a cruise or a business trip, not all policies will cover you. Winter sports mean more risk of injury, while with cruises you might need specific elements, like cover for being airlifted to hospital in an emergency, or confined to your cabin.

If you’re travelling on business (and your company isn’t insuring the trip) not all general policies will cover you. We’ll ask you about these elements as part of our quote information.

Are you planning on being adventurous on your travels? If so you might need to check whether that deep sea fishing, white water rafting or rock climbing is covered in your policy.

How’s your health?

To get you a list of quotes, we’ll ask you a few questions about your health and get you to add in the names of any medical conditions.

From a providers' point of view, a health condition could mean you‘re more likely to need medical help while you’re away. Because of this, some conditions might make your insurance more expensive but this isn’t always the case with all conditions.

It’s important that you do list any medical issues and give providers all the information they need because, if not, you might be charged more by your provider or not be covered. If your insurer discovers that the medical emergency on your trip was linked to a condition you already had, they could refuse to pay your bills or charged.

You’ll now get a page full of travel insurance quotes. They are listed in price order with the cheapest travel insurance at the top.

All the main details of each policy are shown – the amounts of medical, baggage and cancellation cover, how well it’s rated by Defaqto, and how much excess you would pay if you did make a claim. You can filter your results to only show those over a certain limit. To find out more about what is and isn’t included in the policies, click each one for more details.

Once you’ve have found a travel insurance quote that suits you, click the button to go through and buy. Make sure you read all the details. It’s unlikely you would need to claim, but it’s important to make sure you have the right cover, just in case.

Don’t forget, if you buy your travel insurance policy through us, you will benefit from the fabulous Meerkat Movies! You can get 2 for 1 cinema tickets on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, every week for a whole year*. A great reason to choose us for your holiday insurance. Have a great trip!

*Rewards: 2 for 1 cinema tickets on Tuesdays or Wednesdays at participating cinemas for 12 months from date of purchase, one membership per 12 months. Standard tickets only, cheapest ticket free. Qualifying Purchases only. For new MEERKAT MOVIES members it can take up to 48 hours to validate your details and you may not be able to activate your membership on the day of purchase. Meerkat toys available to claim on Qualifying Purchases. Meerkat Movies and Limited Editions Oleg as BB-8 toy available to claim on qualifying purchases until 28 February 2018.Terms and conditions apply.

^For the period 1st June to 31st August 2017, 19,640 people responded to the recommend question, 18,077 responded with a score of 6 or above, therefore 92.04% are likely to recommend.

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